Grass Seeders / Drills

[cummins08]

I know this is an old post, but are the seeders like you mentioned from woods or the landpride all purpose seeders worth the money? I seed around 25 to 30 lawns with fescue every fall. Do these machines have better germination rates than broadcast? Seems like they would work great from what I can tell.

 

[Fallon]

Everything I have read says its cheaper to rent a drill than broadcast. You save that much in seed cost by the better germination rates of drilling over broadcasting.

 

[cummins08]

That is what I was thinking. Feel like I waste a lot with broadcast and seed isn't getting any cheaper.

 

[flusher]

I know this is an old post, but are the seeders like you mentioned from woods or the landpride all purpose seeders worth the money? I seed around 25 to 30 lawns with fescue every fall. Do these machines have better germination rates than broadcast? Seems like they would work great from what I can tell.

Landscape seeders like Woods, Landpride, Brillion show up on eBay regularly. The 5-ft wide models generally sell in the $3-4K range. My neighbor uses a 5-ft Brillion to seed his alfalfa hayfield.

Good luck.

 

[The It]

I use mine in a vineyard, where the conditions and cosmetics are different than a lawn. For my situation it works great. If I were doing lawns, I'd rather use a seed drill. But, if you can, you should rent or borrow one of these to see if it does the job to your satisfaction.

Cheers!

 

[cummins08]

Yeah I was just thinking an all purpose seeder might be cheaper than a drill. I'll have to look around and see what I can find. Thanks for the info!

 

[flusher]

Yeah I was just thinking an all purpose seeder might be cheaper than a drill. I'll have to look around and see what I can find. Thanks for the info!

Drills and seeders are two different types of planter. The classic grain drill (aka grain drills) plants seed in rows spaced 6-8" apart (typical spacing for hayfields). Seeders have seed chutes that distribute the seed uniformly in a line perpendicular to the direction of travel (like you would for landscape/lawn planting).

You can convert a grain drill into a seeder by adding a seed chute. These chutes are easy to fabricate DIY.

Grain drills and seeders require the soil to be prepared by discing and/or rototilling.

There is another type of planter called a no-till drill that plants seed in ground that, as the name suggests, does not have to be prepared via tillage. No-tills typically are heavily constructed planters compared to grain drills and seeders and tend to be quite a bit more expensive.